If you’ve ever wondered how solid state drives (SSDs) are made, then your wish will be answered over the course of the next 243 seconds. Semiconductor manufacturer Crucial has put together a video explaining just how SSDs are made, complete with some excellent visuals of the process.

Measure memory circuitry, down the the billionth of a meter (a nanometer)

Create very tiny paths on wafer (the circuits), just like on a processor

Once the wafers are finished (Crucial skipped a number of steps here) they are cut into individual chips

The chips are put on circuit boards. They are affixed with gold wires by a very cool machine (1:29 if you want to see it in action)

After inspection a protective piece of plastic is molded around each chip

Flash memory chips are similarly cut and then tested.

After passing testing chips are laser etched with their information

With the components assembled, actual SSD production begins on a PCB (which Crucial also makes)

Flash memory and other components are mounted on the PCB with pick-and-place machines

SSDs are inspected, by computer and visually, before they are separated

The boards are then put into their 2.5-inch protective housings (this is what see when looking at an SSD)

The information sticker is attached and the firmware is installed

SSDs are tested for up to 60 hours to ensure stability and performance. Some drives are further tested with a variety of actual computers (not just huge, multi-drive testing machines)

Drives are places in their retail packaging and shipped

At the core, building an SSD isn’t too different from a processor, SoC, and other any number of other semiconductors. There are a few extra steps, such as the protective packaging and the installation of firmware, but if you’re familiar with how CPUs are built then most of the scenes from this video were probably quite familiar to you.

In case you were wondering, Crucial noted that the majority of this video was shot at the company’s factories in Singapore and China.

And that’s how an SSD is made! It’s a very cool process and we’re glad Crucial gave us a bit of insight into its facilities, technology, and wonderfully clean rooms.